What is contemplative computing?

Contemplative computing may sound like an oxymoron, but it's really quite simple. It's about how to use information technologies and social media so they're not endlessly distracting and demanding, but instead help us be more mindful, focused and creative.

About Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

I write about people, technology, and the worlds they make.

My book on contemplative computing, The Distraction Addiction, was published by Little, Brown and Company in 2013. (It's been translated into Dutch (as Verslaafd aan afleiding) and Spanish (as Enamorados de la Distracción); Russian, Chinese and Korean translations are in the works.)

My next book, Rest: Why Working Less Gets More Done, is under contract with Basic Books. Until it's out, you can follow my thinking about deliberate rest, creativity, and productivity on the project Web site.

I didn't know we'd changed the name of Silicon Valley, but it works

In the heart of the Valley of Digital Distractions, mindfulness is the latest coin of the realm.

"The speed at which information is coming at us can get overwhelming," says Google's Gopi Kallayil, a marketing manager for Google+ who also teaches a popular weekly yoga class for stressed-out Googlers. "I'm seeing more and more people in Silicon Valley moving to yoga as a centering, anchoring ritual because it gives them a respite from that relentless onslaught."

From Google's "Optimize Your Life" program that helps employees unplug from the digital grind, to the valley darling Asana, a Web-based productivity-services firm that lists "Mindfulness" at the top of its corporate-values list, everyone's getting into the awareness-raising act….

Deborah Burkman, who leads yoga retreats and "urban-wellness" programs for companies, has been teaching meditation at Twitter, the microblogging behemoth that practically embodies the frenetic digital drill so many people are caught up in.

"Twitter's really into this," she says. "There's a whole mindfulness program they're trying to build there. Like a lot of companies, they're concerned about the well-being of their employees, and they're big believers in trying to have people be consciously connected."